During drinks with ma, the subject of a viral article was brought up to help her illustrate why she is just disgusted with 99% of online communities. This article was apparently written by an author whose sole purpose was to tear down a slightly overweight teen. I went on to inform her that the article was likely nothing more than linkbait and went on to explain this to her.
It got me thinking of all the trolling I've done on forums over my life and articles I've wrote (mostly out of sheer boredom on gaming forums I used to frequent. Haven't really done this on WF for obvious reason). It was simply a mini-game to me. Something to help pass the time. The idea was simple: Post a thread with the whole intention of seeing how many pages you can get the community to argue through.
The real pro trolls have moved on from forums and reddit and now get paid to write articles for various sites. Contemplating this, I decided I would think out loud here a bit and put my trolling wisdom into words. I'll write until I get my coffee buzz going, then you guys can fill in the rest. So, here goes...
Linkbaiting: How to troll like a pro
Leave Room for the Imagination
Simply put, you want to leave room for people to debate. Your goal is not to write the most comprehensive 5,000 word article articulating your stance on a topic. You want to leave room for people to add things that will make them feel like "Nobody has brought up this point, which is why I AM RIGHT AND YOU ARE WRONG!" In many cases, what is left unsaid in your piece is often more powerful than what is said.
An Image is Worth a Thousand Words
If you want to hit a home run, you better have images to back it up. Picking the right images, ones that will clearly invoke emotion relating to your piece, are absolutely necessary if you want to linkbait/troll like a pro. If you aren't going to use images, you might as well skip the writing too.
For example, since I've been using guns in schools as my examples, I'll continue with that:
Use the images to really drive home the emotion of your sub-points within your piece. A single, properly placed image can put someone into a frenzy which will cause them to spend their entire week posting your link on every online social outlet they can find.
Don't Continue in the Discussion that Follows
As the writer, once you've posted the piece, you're done. Don't go back and bolster your points by joining the discussion that follows. Less is more here and putting yourself in the midst of a heated debate is like walking between two packs of fighting dogs with a meat suit on. Just don't do it. If you want to go back to the discussion, write an entirely new piece and start the whirlwind again.
Anyway, that's all I got. Coffee is about done. Back to trolling.
Disclaimer: I'm not a writer, I don't write for a living. This is just random thoughts on linkbaiting from articles I've done in the past and trolling for kicks.
Have fun trolling like the pros bros.
It got me thinking of all the trolling I've done on forums over my life and articles I've wrote (mostly out of sheer boredom on gaming forums I used to frequent. Haven't really done this on WF for obvious reason). It was simply a mini-game to me. Something to help pass the time. The idea was simple: Post a thread with the whole intention of seeing how many pages you can get the community to argue through.
The real pro trolls have moved on from forums and reddit and now get paid to write articles for various sites. Contemplating this, I decided I would think out loud here a bit and put my trolling wisdom into words. I'll write until I get my coffee buzz going, then you guys can fill in the rest. So, here goes...
Linkbaiting: How to troll like a pro
Identify your targets (general or specific)
I would never recommend personally attacking anyone, like what was mentioned above. That crap will have karma kicking you in the teeth eventually. That's weak trolling.
"Identifying your targets" is the essence of linkbaiting. You must be able to verbally identify the two groups you are going to pit against each other. Linkbaiting only works when two or more groups of people with particularly strong views and beliefs go at each other. To do this, you must know your audience. You must know what hot buttons they feel passionately about. This leads us to #2.
Your topic must not be able to be proven in any form
This is a key element to linkbaiting/trolling that has ruined many a promising troll when overlooked. Linkbaiting topics themselves are meant to be passionately and angrily debated. If the troll doesn't know the topic well enough and the topic can be overwhelmingly proven for one side or another, both sides will eventually turn on the writer and he/she will pay the price.
There can be plenty of supporting evidence for different stances on the subject you are using as your topic, but there must not be any overwhelming proof giving one side a winning position in the debate.
Good Linkbait Topic Example: Armed Security Should be Employed by Public Schools.
Bad linkbait Topic Example: Online Marketing Is A Scam
If you can't figure out why one is good and one is bad, in relation to the point being presented in this section, think about it until you do.
Trendy Topics Work Best
This one should be obvious. No one really cares about debating the what if's of Prohibition or anything else of the past. It's also generally advised to avoid evergreen topics (Like arguing the existence of a God). Main reason is that these have been argued to death and your audience will quickly fizzle out if they are presented with an argument that they've debated 100 times before.
The only time you should visit a topic like this is if you have a very unique, present-day spin to put on it.
The Writer Must Take a Side
Don't think you can get away as a neutral party when writing a linkbait article. If you try to be an unbiased party, simply presenting a few points from each side, you will need a miracle to get the traction you're looking for. It's like trying to start a bonfire with everything you need except the match.
The topic and your content should clearly represent one side. Doing this is like starting a small fire and dumping gasoline on it. I'm sure you can think of several famous figures who are experts at this. They do it for a reason.
Assuming the content follows the stance of the headline, which article do you think is going to throw people into a posting/sharing/commenting rage?
I would never recommend personally attacking anyone, like what was mentioned above. That crap will have karma kicking you in the teeth eventually. That's weak trolling.
"Identifying your targets" is the essence of linkbaiting. You must be able to verbally identify the two groups you are going to pit against each other. Linkbaiting only works when two or more groups of people with particularly strong views and beliefs go at each other. To do this, you must know your audience. You must know what hot buttons they feel passionately about. This leads us to #2.
Your topic must not be able to be proven in any form
This is a key element to linkbaiting/trolling that has ruined many a promising troll when overlooked. Linkbaiting topics themselves are meant to be passionately and angrily debated. If the troll doesn't know the topic well enough and the topic can be overwhelmingly proven for one side or another, both sides will eventually turn on the writer and he/she will pay the price.
There can be plenty of supporting evidence for different stances on the subject you are using as your topic, but there must not be any overwhelming proof giving one side a winning position in the debate.
Good Linkbait Topic Example: Armed Security Should be Employed by Public Schools.
Bad linkbait Topic Example: Online Marketing Is A Scam
If you can't figure out why one is good and one is bad, in relation to the point being presented in this section, think about it until you do.
Trendy Topics Work Best
This one should be obvious. No one really cares about debating the what if's of Prohibition or anything else of the past. It's also generally advised to avoid evergreen topics (Like arguing the existence of a God). Main reason is that these have been argued to death and your audience will quickly fizzle out if they are presented with an argument that they've debated 100 times before.
The only time you should visit a topic like this is if you have a very unique, present-day spin to put on it.
The Writer Must Take a Side
Don't think you can get away as a neutral party when writing a linkbait article. If you try to be an unbiased party, simply presenting a few points from each side, you will need a miracle to get the traction you're looking for. It's like trying to start a bonfire with everything you need except the match.
The topic and your content should clearly represent one side. Doing this is like starting a small fire and dumping gasoline on it. I'm sure you can think of several famous figures who are experts at this. They do it for a reason.
Assuming the content follows the stance of the headline, which article do you think is going to throw people into a posting/sharing/commenting rage?
Your Kids Need Guns: It's Time for Armed Personnel in Schools
or
Guns In Schools: The Pros & Cons
Don't underestimate your audience. It doesn't matter if you're writing something that the majority of your readers will agree with. You're not writing this for them. You're writing for the minority of your readers who will disagree with you. These are the ones who will flock to their online social circles to rally supporters for their cause. Which is the entire point of the article anyway.or
Guns In Schools: The Pros & Cons
Leave Room for the Imagination
Simply put, you want to leave room for people to debate. Your goal is not to write the most comprehensive 5,000 word article articulating your stance on a topic. You want to leave room for people to add things that will make them feel like "Nobody has brought up this point, which is why I AM RIGHT AND YOU ARE WRONG!" In many cases, what is left unsaid in your piece is often more powerful than what is said.
An Image is Worth a Thousand Words
If you want to hit a home run, you better have images to back it up. Picking the right images, ones that will clearly invoke emotion relating to your piece, are absolutely necessary if you want to linkbait/troll like a pro. If you aren't going to use images, you might as well skip the writing too.
For example, since I've been using guns in schools as my examples, I'll continue with that:
Use the images to really drive home the emotion of your sub-points within your piece. A single, properly placed image can put someone into a frenzy which will cause them to spend their entire week posting your link on every online social outlet they can find.
Don't Continue in the Discussion that Follows
As the writer, once you've posted the piece, you're done. Don't go back and bolster your points by joining the discussion that follows. Less is more here and putting yourself in the midst of a heated debate is like walking between two packs of fighting dogs with a meat suit on. Just don't do it. If you want to go back to the discussion, write an entirely new piece and start the whirlwind again.
Disclaimer: I'm not a writer, I don't write for a living. This is just random thoughts on linkbaiting from articles I've done in the past and trolling for kicks.
Have fun trolling like the pros bros.
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